Niagara College International

During International Development Week (IDW) 2024 at Niagara College, captivating activities involving students and staff showcased how NC integrates the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into its global projects.

The events, held on February 5 at the Welland Campus and February 7 at the Daniel J. Patterson Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, were a collaboration between NC’s Global Education Projects, Be World Ready, and the Sustainability office.

The events featured a poster showcase of NC’s global engagements and an SDG Wheel of Purpose. Students had the opportunity to test their knowledge of SDGs through interactive trivia questions and participate in a raffle draw.

“As a signatory of the SDG Accord, NC is committed to supporting the SDGs, and this was just one example of how this commitment is being operationalized to positively impact the work we do in Niagara and around the world,” said NC’s Manager of Sustainability Taryn Wilkinson. “One of the events was supporting students in learning about the transformative projects and sustainability-related work happening in their home countries. It was also a great opportunity for employees to share their projects and how they are contributing to the SDGs.”

Some of the initiatives highlighted were:

• The Crafting Women Brewmasters in Bhutan.
• A snapshot of projects completed in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNEVOC), such as the UNEVOC Toolkits for TVET Providers – Creating an Online Platform of Information on Free-to-use Toolkits.
• Three recent projects in Kenya with a focus on the Gender Equality Policies and Training project
• NC’s strategic partnership development in the Caribbean community and the further global engagement opportunities that have emerged, such as those within the Skills to Access the Green Economy (SAGE) program.

“The posters provided a sample of the types of capacity building projects NC has engaged in over the years along with the impact on its global partners, students, faculty and staff,” said NC’s Manager of Global Education Projects Quinn De Vries. “The event was an opportunity to engage in discussions and share information about the projects and how NC has integrated various SDGs into their implementation.”

Associate Director of Cultural and Global Engagement Maxine Semple believes the events also represented an opportunity to share how NC has successfully integrated the SDGs into its curriculum.

“The Be World Ready (BWR) course is a great example, with a whole week of the course dedicated to learning about the SDGs,” said Semple. “The BWR team also collaborates with the Office of Sustainability to assess our BWR International Field Studies each term to identify  how our experiences abroad contribute to the collective goal of specific SDG targets.”

Through NC IDW 2024, the College aimed to educate and inspire students to actively contribute to a more sustainable and globally conscious future.

About IDW

IDW has been an annual event since 1991, spotlighting Canadians’ contributions to eradicating poverty and building a more peaceful, inclusive, and prosperous world. It provides a unique opportunity to inform, inspire, involve, and celebrate Canadians’ global impact on international development. Throughout IDW, various events are hosted across Canada, involving civil society, the private and philanthropic sectors, schools, colleges, universities, and the general public